BRITISH Airways is
increasing capacity on the
Johannesburg route this
month. The airline will add
680 seats a week by upping
its current 10-times-a-week
A380 service to a doubledaily,
replacing the four
weekly B747 flights.
With the exception of Los
Angeles, Johannesburg will
be the only BA route with a
twice-daily A380 service.
The airline’s decision to
increase capacity on the
JNB route is likely a result
of an upsurge in inbound
rather than outbound
demand, points out Andrew
Stark, md of Flight Centre
Travel Group Middle East,
Africa.
Mary Shilleto, ceo of
Thompsons Travel, has
noticed a dramatic increase
in inbound leisure travel on
the LHR-JNB route due to
the weak rand. In contrast,
Andrew says numbers on
the outbound leg, JNBLHR,
are currently very flat
despite its being an everpopular
route in terms
of commercial value and
reach. Mary says the reason
may be that obtaining a UK
visa is expensive and can
be challenging in terms of
meeting requirements.
Riaan Duplessis,
consultant of Thompsons
Travel, suggests that BA
may be replacing B747
services with the A380
simply because it is more
financially viable. “While
the B747-8 and the A380
have almost the same fuel
efficiency, the operating
costs of the A380 are much
less,” he explains.
When approached for
comment, BA was unable
to confirm the reason for
increasing capacity on the
JNB route.
